A good battery

[Reaper]

I just finished trying to charge the battery for my 95 z28 camaro. Its sort of a project car for me, so I RARELY ever drive it or even turn it on, and the battery wont charge, the charger says I need to replace it. This is the second time this year I am getting a battery for this car. Its an AC Delco, which I think i bought pretty cheap. Well I just wanted to know what you guys think is a good Brand of battery for my car. A battery that you guys personally know or have heard is very reliable and lasts a long time. oh and if you could include a price range for the battery it would be great. Thanks.

[baddabang]

Optima yellow top, we have them in all our cars and they seem to be reliable even when its -20 in the winter.

[Quiggs]

Optima. Depending on what your needs are, red or yellow. They're a little pricey, but they last a lot longer than regular lead-acid batteries.

When the car isn't in use, disconnect the negative cable.

[coolieman1220]

Optima!

[nota]

Originally Posted by Reaper

I just finished trying to charge the battery for my 95 z28 camaro. Its sort of a project car for me, so I RARELY ever drive it or even turn it on, and the battery wont charge, the charger says I need to replace it. This is the second time this year I am getting a battery for this car.

Automotive batteries hate not being used regularly, and they fare especially badly if allowed to run flat

I'm told that Optima car batteries are particularly vulnerable in this regard, and prone to fizz out if left to discharge. With this in mind and considering how much yellow top Optimas cost they'd be about the last battery I'd be recommending for your application

[Quiggs]

As long as he disconnects it he'll be fine. Anyone who kills an Optima prematurely has larger issues, namely huge amounts of parasitic draw. I've left my car off with my parking lights on and my stereo playing for over 2 hours and I've never had a problem.

[nota]

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree ..

Originally Posted by Quiggs

I've left my car off with my parking lights on and my stereo playing for over 2 hours and I've never had a problem.

The capacity to keep your parking lights and stereo going for two hours is not what I was alluding to - which was to subject a battery to long periods of disuse, as does Reaper

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For trivia the design concept that Optima now uses was invented & patented here in Australia by Dunlop Pacific. They received wide publicity (and a few awards too) but the storage & recharge drawbacks of these types of batteries have since become well known, at least here

http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/881.html

Btw I bought a Pulsar Switch soon after their debut in 1988. It went like a beauty for a few years in my collectible car, until I stopped using the vehicle on a regular basis and this inactivity effectively killed the battery, as is typical

Pacific Dunlop's technology was later onsold to the US (in the mid 1990s iirc) and reappeared in the now-spirally wound Optima battery